TriMet, union spar as contract expiration looms

It seems like just yesterday that TriMet and the Amalgamated Transit Union 757 reached a contract agreement after nearly three years of negotiating.

Well, it wasn't yesterday. But it was just three months ago, and now the two are squaring off again with the contract set to expire tomorrow.

As the Portland Tribune reports, the union, which represents most TriMet workers, accused the agency of being unwilling to open negotiations to the public. In a statement, TriMet called the charge "false" and invited the press into the negotiating room.

The agency also indicated that its top priority is "reducing the costs of one of the richest health care benefits in the public transit industry."

A deal on the current contract was only reached after an arbitrator said the union must accept TriMet’s offer retroactively to when the previous contract expired. The groups had undergone arbitration in order to resolve the nearly three-year-old dispute.